Displaced

So we got home Saturday night after a harrowing drive back from a fun St. Pat's day dinner at St. Clement's Castle in Portland, CT courtesy of the senior Sloans to find a police car blocking both ends of our road and to find out we had no power. Had the advantage of my mini electric battery pack for my sleep machine that night, but woke up to still no power Sunday morning. We had no idea how extensive the damage was to that point. Sunday morning, while going for coffee and bagels I got a chance to see how surreal it was and got a chance to see, up close and personal, the massive tree that had fallen and taken out the power lines on the road. At Sue's urging I made a reservation at a hotel early on Sunday, and was lucky to get it as by noon on Sunday all the hotels were sold out as far north as Fairfield.

We spent the next three nights in the hotel and that gave me pause to think how displaced and out of sorts I felt, even though the hotel room was very comfortable, had internet access, a hi def large, flat screen TV, microwave, fridge, heat, AC, comfortable bed and nice shower. It made me feel fortunate to be experiencing this inconvenience (and that's all it turned out to be) where in a few days all was back up to speed, we were all healthy, no damage had been done to the house, save one large fence gate pulled out of the ground, and the cats were able to stay at home as the coldest the house ever got was 56 degrees, chilly, I'll admit, but by no means dangerous.

My heart really goes out to the folks in New Orleans who years later are still living in FEMA trailers, some of whom, (maybe many of whom) will never see their homes or possessions again. Next time you complain about something, put it in the perspective of the larger picture and, if you are like we were, feel lucky that a small blip on the radar is exactly that, a small blip on the radar. (and yes, I am looking into a generator as soon as things settle down a bit :)

Onwards and Upwards!!